Spin The Bottle
by jemtessas
Summary: Based on the prompt: "we've been best friends for practically our whole lives but you're a thousand times more popular than me so you dragged me to a big party and now we're playing spin the bottle and you spin and it lands on me oh crap" where teresa is the popular one and thomas is a lovesick dork
Thomas doesn't remember when he became friends with Teresa first. Was it the time their mothers became friends while being pregnant? Was it the time Thomas's mother took her 6-month-old baby to visit the new born Teresa? Was it the time they threw crayons at each other? Or was it the time they joined the same school together and had lunch together in the cafeteria each day for the whole of middle school?

Thomas does not remember the exact time they became best friends because it felt instinctive, like it was in his blood. They were never separated for too long.

But, Thomas does remember the exact moment when he realized he _like_ -liked her.

Teresa had fought with a friend of hers and called Thomas over. Of course he went. He laid next to her, rubbing circles on her back until she calmed down. She vented about how she thought her friend Aris would be there for her and support her and why do friends always leave her and what did she ever to do to Aris for him to hurt her like this.

He let her vent, only nodding when it was needed and whispering assurances. That calmed her down and she was soon asleep next to him.

None of this was unusual. Thomas has been to her house, her bed countless times. But, when Thomas attempted to carefully extract himself from her to return home, he found him arm in a vice lock.

Teresa turned over and said sleepily, "Don't leave."

She wasn't even entirely conscious but those two words undid Thomas in ways he didn't think existed.

"Of course," he replied softly. "I'm always here for you."

Teresa's smile was like the moon crescent.

Since then, Thomas found his heart beat faster whenever Teresa was in close proximity. Then he found himself stealing glances at her more often. He found himself wanting to smooth down the stray, dark strands that had escaped her hair tie. He found himself wanting to reach out and cup her cheek. He found himself wanting her to rest her head on his shoulder. He found himself wanting, wanting, _wanting_.

It wouldn't amount to anything. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he fell for her in the way that the oldest love stories dictate. The story of the two best friends that one day, look at each other with different eyes and realize all along that they were in love.

He thought that to give himself hope. Perhaps it was stupid to think it would work out. Thomas was her oldest friend, and best friend but she had 5 other best friends too. Teresa was popular in school. The 'you-can't-help-but-love-her' popular, the kind that attracts people like a magnet.

Thomas? Thomas was a quiet kid. Apart from a handful of controversies, one including him getting into a fight with a boy named Gally in the 4th grade, Thomas was not known for anything special.

Which is why when Teresa called him to go for a party, he shook his head in a firm no.

"Please," Teresa pleaded.

Thomas sighed. This was the third time she was asking him. "It's not my thing Teresa! You do parties well. I.. get lost and get embarrassingly drunk."

"I promise to be with you the whole time. I'll record all the embarrassing shit you do too," Teresa grinned. She was perched on the loveseat in his room while he forced himself to look away from her sprawled legs.

"You said that last time too," Thomas groaned, ignoring the second half of what she said. "And then you proceeded to abandon me to jump into the pool."

"Huh," Teresa put a finger to her chin. "I remember that! Rachel's party right? God that was fun."

She turned to Thomas, only now realizing that she was failing at convincing him.

"Thomas please," she said pleadingly again. Her pink lips curved to form the cutest pout Thomas had seen. Her hair was undone and she was leaning towards Thomas, allowing him to smell the familiar faint lavender smell he always associated with her (it was the shampoo).

He didn't stand a chance.

3 hours later, Teresa barged into his house and demanded they leave for the party now. She borrowed his mother's heels ("She has the best choice in fashion honestly. How are you her son?" she had asked once. "I'm not," he had replied, and they both laughed).

Thomas pulled on his leather jacket, the only remotely fashionable clothing he had, over his old V-neck. He checked his black jeans for any stains and came up clean. This will do.

Teresa was wearing a white cropped top with a black sequined skirt and quite surprisingly, a similar black leather jacket as his.

She hummed appreciatively at their similarity. "Match, match," she stuck out her little finger.

"Match, match," he grinned, hooking his little finger around hers. His grin fell when he took into account of how utterly gorgeous she looked, without even trying. He wondered whether the benefits of being a girl were so that you look so drop dead beautiful all the time, or if it was just Teresa.

Teresa was talking to someone on the phone so he stole the opportunity to look at her and question the stars on how in the world he had the chance to meet her.

"Let's go!" she said excitedly, putting her phone back into her bag. She grinned so wide, her lip-gloss distracting Thomas. "I'm going to find you a girl today!"

He never thought that that girl would be her.

Teresa grinned at him from the opposite side of the circle. The neck of the glass bottle was pointing to his knee and he stared at it to make sure it was real.

"Come on," said Brenda. "Just kiss already. There are more turns to play you know!"

Thomas looks up finally to look at Teresa.

How was he roped into this?! It was all her fault.

She had stuck to her promise and did not abandon him the whole night but this meant that they did what Teresa wanted to do in the duration of the party. This included spin-the-bottle.

She was pleasantly drunk and 100% willing to play it, and so she dragged him into the game and played the first turn, spinning the bottle with an excited laugh.

Thomas felt true horror but Teresa was entirely different. She didn't look like she would have minded.

Before Thomas could uncoil the fear, shock, and nerves in his stomach, she crawled to him.

Her pearly white face was so close to his, as he continued to remain frozen in his cross-legged position.

"Hey," she said softly, despite the devilish smirk she had sported earlier.

"Hi," he muttered. He couldn't raise his voice any higher. His mind was entirely focused on the fact that she was so near and she was about to kiss him and he frankly felt like he was about to combust any second.

She leaned closer to him, allowing him to see a longer sliver of skin than just her skin, which sent shudders down his body. The sequinned skirt glittered when she moved towards him.

Teresa closed her eyes, so close to Thomas when his hand shot out and held her face.

Her skin was warm, flushed under his hand. She stilled and opened her eyes. Thomas rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone. She stared at him the whole time.

She had never looked at him like this, as if she was entirely captivated. Her head dipped instinctively to allow him to caress her face.

Thomas raised his other hand to tug on a curl and place it behind her ear. His fingers touched her ears accidentally and though it was just a slight brush, he felt her tremor slightly under the caress of his hand.

Their friends- Teresa's friends- were saying something but it blurred into the background. He could see only her, feel only her skin under his hand, and smell only her. He was so scared.

He didn't want this to go wrong.

Teresa saw him hesitating. She saw him stare at her lips. She felt the longingness.

She swooped forward to crash against his lips.

Teresa lost her balance and fell on to Thomas, pushing him over to the floor.

Her hands held the sides of his face and she kissed him. She kissed him and he was dumbfounded.

The suddenness of her soft lips startled him.

Her lips were so soft, so soft, he felt like he was melting.

She tore away from him almost immediately.

Thomas was on his back. Teresa on top of him. She had separated from him for only an inch but the distance ached him more.

She was looking at him in a way he didn't recognize. He breathed in.

"You're an idiot," she said, forming some sort of his decision.

He didn't understand what that meant.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked.

"You didn't do it when you were supposed to. Why should you get a second chance?" she huffed.

She was still on top of him. Thomas felt some sort of hope.

"Because I've wanted to kiss you for so long," he replied truthfully. "I can't believe this is happening but I don't want this to go wrong."

Her eyebrows unfurrowed and her burning blue eyes softened. "Yes."

Thomas grinned widely. He put both his hands at the sides of her face, leaned up and kissed her.

He was aware of the gentle rise and fall of her chest against his own. He was aware of her body against his, melding with his. He was aware of the others around them making gross noises and telling them to go get a room.

But nothing mattered because Teresa was kissing him.

Thomas let the swimming giddiness engulf his body. She moaned softly, low in her throat and he kissed her harder. His hands were in her hair and her hands were on his chest, pulling his t-shirt closer to her.

Teresa broke away from him.

She looked at his swollen, begging-to-be-kissed lips and grinned so wide it hurt.

"You're an idiot."

Thomas laughed under her. "We should probably get up."

"We should."

Neither made any attempt to move.

"Next time you want to kiss me," Teresa said, breaking the silence, "you can just ask."

"Noted, ma'am," he grinned.

She rolled over to his side, with the game long forgotten and even their friends abandoned them to continue to game.

He turned to his left, still in disbelief that he kissed Teresa. And it worked out! It worked out well!

"Teresa?"

"Mmhm?" She was looking at the ceiling and smiling to herself.

"Can I kiss you?"

She hit his arm.


End file.
